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Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president, has been found guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes during the Sierra Leone civil war .

A UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, found him guilty beyond reasonable doubt of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He will serve his sentence in a British prison.

The events for which Taylor was charged run  from November 1996 to January 2002.

Taylor provided rebel armies with weapons in exchange for diamonds during their operations to retake important districts and cities in Sierra Leone in 1998 and 1999.

Between November and December 1998, Taylor met a rebel leader, known as Bockarie in Monrovia, where they devised a two-pronged attack on Kono, Kenema and Freetown.

According to a 44-page summary of the judgement, Taylor had emphasised to Bockarie the need to first attack Kono District and told Bockarie to make the operation “fearful” in order to pressure the Government of Sierra Leone into negotiations on the release of another rebel leader Foday Sankoh from prison, as well as to use “all means” to get to Freetown.  Subsequently, Bockarie named the operation “Operation No Living Thing,” implying that anything that stood in their way should be eliminated. …”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17862598